Help-Braefoot Bay Gun Battery!!!

Hello folks,Myself and Pathfinder(new member also) are trying to find out info on Braefoot Bay gun battery and also Charles Hill situated just along from it nearer Aberdour.There are photos in the New Members Section on this site In "Toaffers Intro!"Basically and my little brother and myself found the site when walking the dogs two years back and I took Pathfinder there and he was very interested which kind of got the ball rolling for me!!! We know it was used in the 1st and 2nd WW and that the TA maybe ran the show. Our main goal is to see old photos of the gun battery fully operational,hopefully someone can help,thanks,toaffer & pathfinder

 

Hi Toafer and welcome to the forums.
I tried to answer Pathfinder's query in this thread-
www.ww2f.com/military-history/23542-braefoot-gun-battery-fife.html#post284683
I don't have any wartime pics of the battery myself, but someone else might. You could try PILLBOXES, PILLBOX, ANTI-INVASION DEFENCES, WWII, PILLBOX STUDY GROUP,INVASION HISTORY, BUNKERS, MILITARY HISTORY.
I should add that they were for defence against shipping, not aircraft. The battery at Charles Hill was a quick-firing battery for engaging enemy torpedo boats trying to sneak up the channel between Inchmickery and Dalgety Bay. The Downie Point battery is also anti-shipping.
Did you know there is also a battery on Inchmickery? Never been there, so I don't know what kind of condition it's in.
There's another WW1 coastal battery at Carlingnose Point, North Queensferry, just across the road from the station. What's left of it is now privately-owned, but the owner seemed a nice bloke when I met him.
If you're interested in other defences, there are WW2 anti-glider landing poles on the beach between Kinghorn and Burntisland. They've been cut down from their original height, but there must still be 80-100 of them left.
Nice pics of yours btw.

 

Cheers again Historian! Pathfinder and myself's nxt venture is to Charles Hill with the dogs for a look around,Ive seen the poles at Burntisland,will try for some info in Inchmickery too,were probably keeping you quite busy lol!

 

The more the merrier! Got any pics of what's left of Donibristle airfield or Steeple Clump?

 

Some pics of the charles hill gun battery for those not familiar. its superb, only fault! is that the roof of the main battery was removed for safety some years ago as part of a clearup

 

and some more

 

Nice pics Grim. The local history group did a great job of tidying it up; just a pity the roof was beyond help.

 

Thanx for the photos Grim! I Had a look on Microsoft Virtual Earth for signs of the airfield at Donibristle,very little sign that it existed.It was apparently where most of the Industrial Estate is today and you can make out a small part of it where the tennis courts are and some parts that could have been a runway but have houses and gardens right across it!As for Steeples Clump,Im guessing Ive walked by there but unsure of exact location.Its been a while but I might have a look in the local Libraries for photos of Braefoot,Donibristle Airfield & Charles Hill operational

 

Don't know if there's actually anything left of Steeple Clump, it's just wishful thinking. There's a couple of buildings in the Donibristle estate which have original wartime murals inside; I think they were originally canteens.
I've got copies in a book, I'll try to scan them later.

 

there are quite a few wartime buildings left if you go via the industrial estate entrance, a tiny bit of runway/apron and a pill box if i remember correctly.... I've some pics somewhere.......

 

Thanks guys,probably wont see the ind.estate in the same prospective asI wasnt even aware that Dalgety Bay had an airfield until Gordon informed me!!! me living in Inverkeithing and Rosyth all my days too! there is however 1 single Pillbox between Inverkeithing Quarry and the bottom of Fraser Avenue and there are (or used to be) some bunkers and pillboxes in Pitreavie near Dunfermline which I seen about 15 years ago! Quite amazing to think that they are everywhere due to such a massive effort to save the country!

 

Think the bunkers at Pitreavie are gone now, though the pillboxes are apparently still there. It was originally the HQ of No. 18 Group RAF Coastal Command during the war, then the Maritime command centre postwar.
Have you seen the steel pier off Carlingnose Point? That was built to load mines onto subs in WW1; there was a ramp at the bottom of the cliffs, covered by a pillbox, leading out. Only the pier remains now. The three big houses on the beach at Port Laing are built on the site of wartime barracks used to house the engineers working on the defences on Inchkeith.

 

Is that the pier that half of it is missing from the shore between Inverkeithing but nearer North Queensferry? If Carlingnose point is near/at the beach at North Queensferry(3 big houses-last ones stone wall sits on an old concrete sloping wall),I used to play there as a kid long before all the big houses were even thought of! I must say your well clued up in this department! BTW I ve posted a pic of a gun which possibly sat in the pit at Braefoot in the which guns post in WW weapons!

 

That's the pier. As you drive past NQ station from Rosyth, you turn left into the new development that now covers the entire area; the battery is on the cliffs above the pier on the north side of the street now called Carlingnose Point. About 50 yards away from the gun battery (Inverkeithing end) is a concrete bunker. This was used to control minefields covering the approaches to Rosyth in WW1; at the first sign of trouble the crew could electrically detonate some (or all) of the minefield to stop an attack.
An old tarmac road used to lead from the rear of the battery right down the cliffs to Inverkeithing Bay. At the bottom the road (still there) forks; right takes you along the beach to the pier while left takes you to Port Laing. Port Laing barracks were just off the beach and were still visible as mounds of rubble inside the original War Department wire perimeter fence in '92. There was nothing between them and Carlingnose Court at that time.

 

mmm! I tell you i was getting board of taking the dog the same old routes but now ive more of an incentive! ive been along quite alot of fife coastal path and hidden treasure lying all over the place lol!

 

Hi Toaffer, I have a keen interest in coast artillery sites, particularly those in the Firth of Forth. At the moment I am researching Kincraig Battery (WW II) near Elie, Fife.

Some years ago a friend and I wrote an article about Charles Hill battery near Aberdour, which we had published in TAFAC Journal Volume 3 (1997), TAFAC stands for Tayside And Fife Archaeological Committee.

I have numerous files and info connected with the coast battery sites in the Firth of Forth and hopefully will put them in order some day.

 

Hi Ronnie,
welcome to the forums. I think I have a copy of that article you wrote.
Do you know if there's anything left of the WW1 seaplane base at Port Laing? I remember there was still a wired compound with three or four piles of rubble in 1992, but I think that was probably from the WW2 barracks.

 

Hi Gordon, The Port Laing area is one area I want to survey in the future. I'm not aware of any remains of the sea plane base, but it is possible the old pier had some connection. The trouble is with the old Coastguard battery site and its environs is that they are now part of private property and the owners have not been too friendly towards visitors.

I visit Inchgarvie, Inchcolm, Inchkeith, Inchmickery and other sites each summer for a variety of reasons and have substantial information for these and other coast battery sites in the Forth. Once I finish my current researches into Kincraig battery, I'm hoping to have another look at Downing Point and Braefoot batteries.

Thanks for the welcome.

Regarding Braefoot 9.2 inch battery. As with some other batteries in the Firth of Forth, construction began either just before or soon after hostilities commenced in 1914. At that time the new Royal Naval base at Rosyth was nearing completion (finally in 1916) but was operational. The Admiralty also had an anchorage for the Home Fleet "west" of the Rail Bridge. Braefoot was one of the batteries constructed to defend these features. On the opposite shore at Hound Point a battery of 6 inch guns was erected and at Downing Point a mile or two west of Braefoot a battery of 4.7 inch guns was installed.

Immediately east of the Rail Bridge there were batteries at Caringnose, Coastguard (both North Queensferry), the island of Inchgarvie and at Dalmeny on the south shore.

Batteries were also at Inchcolm, Inchmickery and Cramond Island and further east at Kinghorn, Inchkeith and Leith Docks.

In 1916 when Rosyth Naval Base was completed, the Admiralty decided to create an anchorage for the Home Fleet "east" of the rail bridge. This required a downward shift in the heavier armament at the coast batteries and many alterations.

Braefoot was closed down (1917), Hound Point, Downing Point and a number of other batteries were down-sized. Carlingnose's two 6 inch guns were sent to Inchcolm to form a new battery there and received two 12pdrs in exchange. This is only some of the changes which took place. Hopefully this will explain why Braefoot has such a short life-span for such a sizeable battery and others were downscaled from having medium armanent to light armament.

 

No worries, Ronnie.
Be interested in any photos you have of Inchcolm and Inchgarvie, since I've never been there.
Used to be a member of the UK Fortifications Club, and about 5 years ago a team did a full survey of Inchkeith. I've still got the photos somewhere.
As you probably know, Kinghorn battery is long gone. If you stand at the east end of King Alexander III Avenue, the rubble-built wall facing you is the battery's back wall, and still has loopholes in it. The original gate house still stands just inside the original entrance, but it's now private property.
When the battery was decommissioned in 1955, someone got planning permission to build a house in one of the 9.2" gunpits! If you turn right and follow the road down the hill to Pettycur Harbour, one of the battery's searchlights still stands behind the flats on your left, in use as a garden shed. The remains of another can be seen built into the harbour wall.
The ww2 coastal battery was on the hill overlooking the harbour; all that remains is one brick building in someone's garden, and a strange little building with an enclosing brick wall which abuts onto the cemetery wall at the top of the hill. It might have been a small arms store. The Ack-Ack battery on the golf course is long gone too.
At the west end of Pettycur Harbour are two anti-glider landing poles, while further along towards Black Rock are about 80-100 more, in pretty good condition.
There's a type 22 pillbox next to the Cromwellian fort and limekiln at Burntisland Harbour, and the remains of a Home Guard slit trench can be found inside the fort's parapet. The Dive Shop in Burntisland was actually built as a nuclear-proof control centre for the Fife railway loop in the '50s; the 8 feet tall blast walls covering the doors are a dead giveaway.

 

Hi Gordon,
I have many slides of Inchgarvie, Inchcolm, Inchkeith, Inchmickery etc. I only started using a digital camera this year. I will be visting these sites next year and will take digital photos. They are far easier to copy and share. If you are interested to see what I have by way of photos you would be better to pay me a visit sometime. I probably have a few surprises !

I am keen to trace any photos of Kincraig battery when it was operational. This is for my current project. However, they are proving elusive. I'm also keen to obtain any information and photos for Kincraig Rifle Range down at Shell Bay near to the battery. The range was operated by the Volunteers/Territorials between early 1860's and c.1965.

Kinghorn and Pettycur really need a survey done. There are bits and pieces dotted about the village, although admittedly most of it has disappeared under the encroaching arms of development